ST KILDA midfielder Nick Dal Santo has backed injured Saints co-captain Nick Riewoldt to appear for the first time this season against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.

Dal Santo was hopeful that Riewoldt, who missed the first two games with a hamstring injury, would return, even though the key forward did not complete yesterday's two-hour training session at 100 per cent intensity.

Riewoldt did the entire session at Moorabbin yesterday but tapered off his work-rate and intensity in the second hour.

Luke Ball, who missed last week's loss to the Brisbane Lions after being concussed in the opening round, trained solidly and is expected to play against the Bulldogs.

At yesterday's launch of the AFL's "rivalry round", Dal Santo said Ball "should be right to go this week" and hoped Riewoldt would be available. "I'd like to think that he will play this week," Dal Santo said.

He also revealed that St Kilda coach Ross Lyon's claim that Ball would fly to Brisbane the day after his teammates last week had been a smokescreen, with Ball ruled out of the game before the Saints left.

"It was, I think, initially decided that he was going to fly up the day of the game and then it was changed during the week. (They) thought it wasn't the best for him," Dal Santo said.

The Saints face the Bulldogs, who are coming off a loss to Adelaide.

Midfielder Adam Cooney said the loss was not due to the Dogs believing their own publicity.

While coach Rodney Eade said after the 38-point belting that some players might have got swept up in the hype of their thrashing of Geelong, Cooney blamed a poor week on the track. "It was spoken about that we may have gotten too far ahead of ourselves. I personally don't think that's the case," Cooney said.

"It was maybe a lack of preparation. Coming off a good win, it was a bit flat during the week, training was a bit flat. I don't think we got too far ahead of ourselves or believed our own publicity."

Adelaide will face Port Adelaide on Saturday, with the Power keen to exploit its pace advantage, according to midfielder Danyle Pearce.

The Power is unbeaten so far this season, helped by a fleet-footed brigade of runners headed by Pearce and Shaun Burgoyne. "Everyone is really looking forward to it, we know it's going to be a big clash," Pearce said.

Port has only three players on its injury list, in contrast to the Crows, who have 12 unavailable.

Adelaide forward Nathan Bock will play after accepting a tribunal reprimand for his front-on bump of Bulldog ruckman Luke Darcy last Sunday. The Crows also expect the versatile Brett Burton to press for a return from injury.

With AAP